IRGM and autoimmune disease: IRGM (Irgm1) deficiency is genetically and functionally associated with several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases including ankylosing spondylitis, autoimmune thyroid diseases, Graves’ disease, Sjogren's syndrome, Crohn's disease, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, Hepatic steatosis, NAFLD (non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease), and severe sepsis (Parkes et al, 2007; Xu et al, 2010; Kimura et al, 2014; Lin et al, 2016; Azzam et al, 2017; Bellini et al, 2017; Xia et al, 2017; Yao et al, 2018).